Cityscape
by Lunan
Summary: Mordernish AU: Yuri is an agent secretly fighting for peace, but peace is threatened by the emergence of new blastia and the people fighting to control them. His mission to gather the world's best agents and stop the madness is only just begun. Y/J E/F
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The sunset blazed against the High Zaphias skyline, edging the tall buildings in liquid gold as the dark haired young man watched from his perch, bathed in the warm light that caused the intense purple highlights of his hair to shine. He was the picture of serenity, his dark violet eyes half lidded and long locks swaying in the breeze.

A beautiful beginning to the night he loved.

Yuri Lowell, twenty two years old, a lifelong resident of Lower Zaphias and all around good guy in the eyes of his neighbors.

Even if they had absolutely no idea what he did for a living.

As the last of the sun's rays died beyond the skyline, the cell phone at the young man's belt chirped. He flipped it open and held it up.

"Yo, what's up?" he asked.

'_**Agent Ashce, report to base immediately for your assignment.'**_

"Understood." he said, and snapped the phone shut.

Of course, his neighbors would never believe he was a secret underground agent even if he told them.

Vaulting off his perch on the edge of the roof he landed catlike on the fire escape outside his apartment window and headed in. Five minutes later he reemerged with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and locked the window behind him. With a leap he sprang off the railing and off the walls to the ground eight floors below.

No one knew what he could do, nor did he want them to know...

People tended to keep their heads on their shoulders better that way.

A short walk down the block had him standing in front of an office building, one that housed the entrance to a hidden underground garage. He waved to the guard, swiped a key card, and went inside, through a disguised door, and down a flight of stairs.

"Mornin' Sooty!"

Yuri tensed at the name, and glared at the offending speaker. "David, for the last time, _don't call me that!_"

David, or Davy as he preferred, grinned at him. He was a weedy guy, short, and with an untamable mop of dirty blond hair that made him look five years younger than his twenty years.

"Aww, don't be like that! It's a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and no moon out, gorgeous!"

Yuri sweatdropped at the utter bubbliness of the man. "Says the guy on desk duty underground." he drawled. "And if you don't stop calling me that ridiculous name you'll find your twiggy ass booted out onto the field in your underwear."

Davy quailed under Yuri's dark gaze, but relented and meekly handed the taller man a set of keys. "Vehicle Thirteen sir."

The underground garages were caches of vehicles for agents, all with interchangeable plates and high performance upgrades, from the mundane to the muscle to the exotic, take your pick.

Yuri's personal favorites were darkly painted sport cars and a particular black and red motorcycle. He loved that bike, particularly on the rare occasions he _needed _to be seen.

But alas, tonight was not a bike night. More than likely he'd need the cover the more common car provided, given that it was assigned tonight. He always had a sort of forewarning by what kind of vehicle he was told to use before an assignment, and if was right, tonight was a 'very likely to get caught, shot at, and chased to hell and back' kind of thing.

'Number Thirteen' was a throughly uninteresting looking car, the kind the average joe drove, a compact black car, but with an low-reflective black finish and quite a few interesting gizmos, some of which promised quite a bit of pain to a pursuer. The fact that he was given this car for the night sent a shiver up Yuri's spine, it wasn't labeled with the unlucky number for nothing.

Swallowing his trepidation, he got in the car and set out along an underground tunnel to the base outpost.

A ride down an elevator and a short walk through a couple security checkpoints had Yuri standing in his superior's office.

"Welcome, Agent Ashce." came a rough, but oddly feminine voice.

"You called, Commander Cerius?"

Commander Cerius was an unusual woman, tall, with a powerful frame, ice-blue hair pulled into stiff loops at the sides of her head, and apparently an extreme distaste for normal, daylight hours. She supposedly had a sister not unlike herself on another continent in the agency, but no one knew for certain.

"I have." she growled, eyes narrowed. "Your services are desperately required tonight Agent Ashce, no other operative has the skills necessary to pull this off."

Yuri frowned. _'Great, here we go again...'_, he mused.

"Your objective," Cerius continued, pulling out a file and tossing it down on her desk, "is to infiltrate the South Aspio research facility and retrieve the new blastia project. This is a matter of national security!"

Yuri opened the file and scanned it's contents, eyes widening in shock as he saw the specs drawn there. "You...you can't be serious!"

"Very serious Agent Ashce. This new blastia could mean we'll have a war on our hands if it is completed and mass produced. These 'Hopelon' blastia can apparently level a city! Get out there, retrieve the project and destroy the research at all costs!"

He snapped to attention immediately. "Yes Ma'am!"

"Get going."

Clutching the file, he sped from the office to the armory. Skidding around a corner he dodged a paper-laden tech before reached his goal.

"Eve! Mission!" he yelled into the maze of weapon racks and shelves.

"Ashce? Whazzup?" replied a girlish voice, and a head of frizzy blond curls poked out into the aisle.

"No time to chat Eve, I'm needed in the field ten minutes ago." he ground out. While he genuinely liked the little weapons tech, he was in a rush.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on speedo. I got your stuff." she huffed, and waved him into a cubicle. "You're lucky you thought to wear loose clothes here today, 'cause you're getting a full suit this time. Bullet resistant spy-boutique, stylishly skintight and light absorbent, complete with grappler harness and utility holsters. Now get changed, I'll have your weapons in a sec."

Finished speaking, she turned and left, drawing the curtain closed behind her.

Yuri blinked at the abrupt dismissal, but shook it off and stripped off his clothes. Pulling out the suit left folded on the shelf, he grimaced. The little technician wasn't kidding when she said it was skin tight, it was so tight it was practically spandex, but he pulled it on anyway. He finished just in time to hear Eve holler at him to come out.

He sighed, gathered his street clothes and shoes, and left the safety of the changing room to a chorus of wolf whistles from the gathered women technicians.

"Hey there hot stuff!" called one tech, boldly smacking his backside before he could turn to face her. "Doing anything later tonight?"

"Back off." he growled.

"Aww, be nice Ashce." scolded Eve, a mess of straps hung over one arm. "They're just your fan club. Now stand still."

Yuri rolled his eyes, but complied and stood with his arms spread. He hated this part of suiting up, the intricate harnesses had to be fitted by a practiced technician so that they wouldn't slip and possibly get him killed, but it was still awkward having to do so in front of so many people, mostly women, thank god Eve was entirely clinical about it.

Ten minutes had him fitted, outfitted with his gear, armed with his favored weapons, and out the door.

"Good luck Ashce, catch ya on the flip side!" called Eve.

"Later E'."

Pulling on his street clothes over the suit he left the base and drove off to his mission.

It was nearing midnight when Yuri finally managed to get on the rooftop of South Aspio Development Headquarters in Higher Zaphias. According to the intel, the target protptype and it's documentation were being kept in a thirtieth floor lab, the second to top floor. It was easy enough to scale the building without being detected, but now he had to get inside.

Well, utility ducts seemed rather welcoming right now, and large lab buildings like this were required to have well maintained ventilation systems to air out dangerous fumes...

So without a second thought he tied up his long hair in a tight high ponytail, and slipped into the ducts.

'_Gods, I hate doing this.' _he thought as he slid through the slick metal ducts. _'Makes me feel like a cliche spy from the movies, even if I am one...' _His shoulders ached slightly from the cramped conditions, but he pulled forward to room the blueprints indicated.

"_Shit!" _he hissed as he recognized infrared laser modules on the walls of the duct just in front of the internal fan of the vent. It was unusual to rig something like this in an air duct, but it's presence either meant he was on the right track or that these people were utterly paranoid.

In the faint light and cramped conditions he worked the rigs free from their housing, disabled them, and then levered the fan and grill open.

It was spooky in the darkened lab, the only light coming from Yuri's dim flashlight and scattered modules. Papers littered nearly every horizontal surface save the floor, miscellaneous sketches, formulas, and notes, but nothing of actual use.

'_Strange...where are the prototypes?' _Yuri thought, scanning the room. The ghostly forms revealed in the faint light did not resemble anything out of the ordinary for a normal office, albeit a rather messy one.

Cautiously stepping over a haphazard stack of papers in an effort not to disturb anything, his foot caught on something and he almost lost balance.

"What the heck?"

His left ankle was ensnared in a mess of wires leading from a strange machine behind him. Made of a strange, grey-gold metal and covered in strange symbols.

A blastia.

Yuri grinned. Dislodging his foot from the snare he inspected the blastia carefully. It vaguely resembled a machine-gun turret, but more angular and streamlined, roughly four feet high. This had to be the prototype he was looking for.

A glance to the left revealed a computer module, obviously connected to the blastia for programming. He took out the hacking device Eve supplied him with and connected it, watching the screen light up as the data flashed across.

He frowned. This was simply too easy. Five minutes and he already had what he came for.

A loud beeping interrupted that train of thought.

'_**Formula inscription complete.' **_read the screen in big red letters. _**'Module Vector-Beta now operational.'**_

"Complete? It's finished?."

With a hiss the upper casing opened, revealing a series of half rings that gave the impression of a gun barrel. Curious, he leaned closer to inspect the device, noting a single ring was a more true gold and scribed with runes. Puzzled, he poked at it with a gloved finger, and something chirped.

"_**Host subject required, request compatible host subject at terminal Alpha."**_

Yuri had no time to react before he was suddenly grabbed from behind, powerful arms restraining him and ripping his left glove off. The figure forced Yuri's hand over the machine, keeping him still as it made a strange humming sound and a needle jabbed into his wrist.

"_**Subject compatibility verified...aer compatibility rated at ninety-four percent...beginning grafting process."**_

Yuri's eyes widened in alarm at the monotone announcement, struggling against the arms holding him.

But his struggles were in vain. The arms tightened and the second half of the ring slammed onto his exposed skin, and a white-hot pain shot up his arm. He watched in utter panic as the machine's arms pierced into his wrist and tightened the band, bolting it into his bones. After several agonizing minutes he was finally released from the machine's grasp, the thick band heavy on his pain-numbed arm as blood seeped from beneath it.

"_**Grafting complete...Bohdi blastia Vector-Beta now acclimating to host."**_ said the computer. _**"Terminal blastia shutting down."**_

The person holding him did not release him, actually tightening his grip on Yuri as he shuddered violently, waves of pain and nausea crashing over him.

Then, the man moved. Grabbing the data chip and tucking it into Yuri's equipment harness before half dragging the stunned agent from the room.

"Keep breathing." he said to Yuri, his deep voice low and almost rumbling. "You need to breathe if you don't want to pass out Phoenix."

The words barely reached Yuri's pain fogged mind, nor did their strangely uninterrupted path down through the building, never once meeting any other human or locked door. The man led Yuri outside and to his car half a block away, setting him down gently.

"You need to stay alive Phoenix, there are few enough of your kind as it is. It will be painful, but your change will help cleanse this corrupted world. Brightest Star, you will need to find your sister. Keep her safe, Phoenix."

And with that, the man left in swirl of long, black hair, leaving the barely conscious Yuri alone.

For half an hour the agent sat there, unable to move, until finally he fought through the pain enough to think straight.

'_Shit shit shit shit shit! This is __**bad**__.'_ he thought, gasping as another stab of pain ran through him. His vision was blurring, but he had the presence of mind to reach his emergency transmitter hooked onto his harness. _'Have to call Eve...'_

"T-this is agent Ashce. Recovery of target unsuccessful...trap of some kind...need...recovery..."

And with that, he blacked out and knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Evangeline Carson, or Eve for short, was considered a prodigy in the field of inventive technologies. A talented hacker and inventor, she was the one who designed most of the high-level agents' gear.

As such, when one was on a mission, it was her responsibility to monitor for transmissions. Tonight was no exception, so she wasn't in the least bit worried. She had faith in agent Ashce's abilities, mainly because he had never needed assistance on a mission.

Her peace was shattered when the emergency transmission alarm began to scream at her, causing her to snap the circuit board she had been fiddling with in half.

"What the hell?" she screeched, frizzy blonde curls flying. "This had better not be another one of your pranks Robertson!"

"Wasn't me!" yelled back another technician. "Check your board!"

Grumbling, she turned to her console and donned a headset, only to freeze as Ashce's voice came over the speakers, faint, pained, and breathless.

"_**T-this is agent Ashce. Recovery of target unsuccessful...trap of some kind...need...recovery..."**_

The transmission cut off abruptly, and in it's place a set of coordinates flashed onto her screen.

Eve stared at it in cold shock for a moment, before exploding into movement. She grabbed her data pad and tore from her station at a dead run, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"_FIELD AGENT DOWN! I REPEAT, FIELD AGENT ASHCE IS DOWN! RECOVERY TEAM ALPHA REPORT AT VEHICLE BAY FOUR! FIELD AGENT DOWN!"_

Agent Ashce was legendary amongst the organization for being unbeatable and undetectable. For him to go down in a mission was never even heard of. Robertson began repeating the message over the loudspeakers, and the entire base rang in utter shock.

Eve pelted down the corridors at her considerable top speed, putting relay racers to shame. Her destination, the western-most vehicle dock, was already swarming with activity. The Alpha recovery team, a group of a dozen agents of varying talents, were the best at their job of retrieving downed agents from failed missions, to prevent local authorities from discovering the organization. It was absolutely vital that high class agents be retrieved, dead or alive, but preferably alive.

And Ashce was _very _high class, even the commander herself was present.

Eve skidded to a halt in front of the commander's imposing figure, panting slightly. "Ma'am!" she gulped nervously. "Why...?"

Cerius' steely eyes narrowed dangerously. "Carson, you are to personally direct Recovery Team Alpha to our downed agent, he most likely has highly sensitive data on his person vital to the project." she barked, but leaned forward and continued in a softer voice. "Make sure he gets home alive Evie."

"Got it auntie."

With that said, Eve leapt into the lead vehicle. "Lock and load people! Moving out!"

Ten minutes...an agonizing ten minutes that seemed to stretch to an immeasurable time as the team navigated the tunnels under the city by Eve's direction. Each driver was highly skilled at maneuvering through the narrow paths, but at their speed there were more than a couple of close calls.

Even more so now at Eve's sudden order.

"Going topside at exit 32 bravo!"

Thankfully that particular exit was an isolated area, so there was little chance of collision upon surfacing. Little more than a mile further she gave the order to reduce speed, their target was close.

"One hundred yards! All vehicles drop speed!"

As ordered the cars slowed dramatically, waiting for Eve's next command.

"Ten yards! Stop!"

Mission vehicle thirteen was now visible, as was the agent slumped against it, clearly unconscious.

Eve just about exploded from the car and rushed to his side. His breathing was shallow and uneven, a faint smear of blood standing out from his deathly pale skin.

Most disturbing though, were the dark red lines spreading from the wide, rune laden band on his wrist, and the blood beginning to pool around him.

The little technician just about sobbed at her friend's state, but held it in. She could freak out later, now was not the time. She searched the pouches of his harness until she found the small data hacker, taking it and stepping back.

The recovery team paramedics were swift and efficient, accessing the fallen agent's injuries and loading him into the ambulance.

"He's unresponsive, possibly in shock. Puncture wounds on left wrist of unknown cause, watch that exposed circuitry on the band." summarized one paramedic, inserting an IV into his patient's right arm. "I see no other injuries, best take caution."

The trip back was even more agonizing than the first, seeing the agent's ghostly pale face half hidden by the oxygen mask. It was all a whirl of lights, sound, and motion that had Eve lost, and standing before the closed ER doors before she knew it.

Commander Cerius stood beside her, a solid and unmoving presence, and a pillar of strength to the petite tech.

"Auntie?"

The commander gave the girl a rare, small smile, and lay a hand over her shaking shoulders.

"Take heart little one, you got our phoenix home, we just need to watch him raise from his ashes."

Eve giggled despite herself. "Ashes of Ashce? Did you give him that name on purpose?" she asked.

"Don't tell him that. It was either Ashce or Wolfe, that latter didn't fit with his classification."

"Very punny auntie."

"Oh yes, very. The highest of immortal creatures, the Great Firebird, a good match with our undefeatable warriors."

"And he's the only one we have."

"Exactly."

xXx

Pain, the first thing he became aware of. Everything hurt, but he couldn't actually feel anything.

Sound, high pitched ringing, rustling, and chirps. Was he outside?

No...the chirping sounds were too consistent to be birds...so where?

Wait...murmers? Someone talking?

"...ome on...ake...wake up...come on Ashce..."

He knew that voice...Eve?

He tried to speak, but his throat was frozen. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt so weighed down. He couldn't move, his body was paralyzed.

"...you'd think a guy would wake up after a three day nap, eh?" came Eve's voice again, to which came a reply Yuri couldn't make out. "Seriously! I mean, he can't sleep for longer than four hours at a time, he told me two months ago."

Funny, he didn't remember telling her that tidbit.

"Carson, I need to take blood sample, you need to move." came another voice, one he didn't recognize.

"Ok, ok, keep your shorts on doc!" Eve snapped. "But this is the fifth time, why?"

"We need to keep a close watch on his condition, we don't know what to expect here."

A small stab of pain lanced up from his right elbow, and he groaned, trying to pull away.

"Ashce!"

Yuri's eyes snapped open at last, Eve's relieved face the first thing he saw.

"Oh god, you're awake! Finally!"

"Ugh, Eve? Where...?"

"Medical ward, ICU." she said, wringing her small hands. "You had all of us scared out of our wits, even me!"

The ICU? Was he really in that bad of shape?

"What happened?" he coughed. His throat was horribly dry and the respirator was not helping matters.

"You don't remember?"

"No."

Just then another doctor came in, shooing Eve from Yuri's side.

"Miss Carson, now is not the time."

She scowled. "Yeah right, your little experiments are more important than his peace of mind."

"Quite the contrary, but I need to examine him, you can catch up later." the doctor said gently. "Now Agent Ashce, I am doctor Genzir, your case manager." the man said, straightening a pair of reading glasses on his nose. "You've been unconscious for more than seventy two hours, three days, and we have yet to isolate the cause of your condition."

As the doctor spoke he pulled the respirator from Yuri's face, letting the agent breath on his own. "Do you need anything?"

"Water, for one." he rasped, coughing.

Genzir smiled and fetched a glass. "Well, you're surprisingly lucid for someone who just woke up after three days of unconsciousness mister Lowell."

"Not exactly normal doc..."

Thirst quenched for the moment, Yuri finally noticed that his left arm wasn't moving, encased in innumerable wires and layers of plating metal shielding it from the air.

"Ok, scratch that, _definitely _not normal."

Genzir frowned. "I would advise that you refrain from moving much young man, your arm and upper spine are in a very delicate state. The technicians are still decoding the data you retrieved, so we don't know what that blastia's purpose is yet."

Yuri eyed the mess of wires leading from various points on his body to the machines surrounding him. "What are all of these?"

"Electromagnetic frequency monitors, Bio-electric sensors, things like that. The welts running up your arm are still spreading, and you had a massive seizure not long after they reached your back, so we suspect that the blastia is tampering with your nerves."

The agent stared at the angry red lines lacing over the skin of his shoulder. "My nerves? You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm afraid not. Once we have an opportunity to put you through a CT scan we will know for sure, but I fear that our hypothesis is more or less correct."

Yuri sank back onto the pillows in a daze, not hearing the doctor's queries or taking notice of movement around him, the world steadily getting quieter and darker as he succumbed to blissful unconsciousness once again.

xXx

The next thing Yuri knew were the unpleasant, tingling jolts running through his body. He opened his eyes, only to shut them again as a bright light assaulted them.

"You awake?" came Eve's voice, a note of guilty concern lacing it.

"Hurts..."

"Sorry." a click sounded. "Light's off."

He opened his eyes again to see Eve sitting at his left, a tool of some sort in her hand and some of the metal plates surrounding his arm lifted away. "What the hell are you doing?"

The frizzy blonde technician grimaced. "Sorry, but I really need to examine this blastia." she mumbled, fidgeting in her seat. "I need to know why it's bolted into your wrist like that and what it's doing to you."

"Well stop!" he snapped, trying to sit up. "It hurts when you fiddle around with it like that!"

Taken aback at the venom in his voice Eve flinched away. "I'm sorry Ashce, I didn't know!"

"Indeed, none of us knew." came a new voice from the doorway. "Do go easy on my niece Lowell, she's only doing her job."

Yuri blinked, faltered, and collapsed back as he realized just who had entered the room. "C-commander!"

Cerius stood tall and imposing in the doorway, her steel blue eyes almost glinting in the half light. Crossing the room she handed Eve a thick folder from the stack she held and sat down in another chair. "Relax. Our scientists have finished decoding and analyzing the data you retrieved, I thought I would go over this with you personally."

Eve seemed to shiver for some reason. "It's bad, isn't it Auntie?"

The stern commander's impassive features visibly hardened. "Yes. The reports indicate that intel was wrong about the weapon, while still a blastia, it is not the energy cannon or 'hopelon blastia' we were originally expecting. The prototype we sent Agent Black Phoenix Asche to retrieve was the model now stuck to him, a kind of heavily enhanced Bohdi-blastia, developed as a kind of control terminal to what can only be called a superhuman weapon."

"Excuse me?" Yuri asked. "What's a bohdi blastia exactly?"

Eve looked positively scandalized. "You're kidding...you don't know about bohdi blastia after all the time you've been working here?"

"Not really, I don't even know what blastia really are."

If there was empty space on the table in front of her, Eve would have slammed her head on it, repeatedly. "I can't believe this..."

"Evie, please just explain." said Cerius.

"Ok Auntie." she sighed. "Listen, blastia are a kind of magitechnology, machines made of special metals and crystals inscribed with rune formulas to manipulate a kind of energy called Aer. Aer is the basic energy that all forms of life require to survive. Without Aer, things die. Too much Aer, they also die. Levels of Aer need to be balanced for life to thrive naturally. Blastia pull Aer from the surroundings and convert it into other energies to preform a function, like the bohdi blastia used to preform 'magic'. Bohdi blastia, however, also pull Aer from the user, and can lead to death by over exhaustion. You got all that?"

"You're saying that this thing can kill me?"

"If you overexert yourself, yes."

"Well, with that covered let's move on." said Cerius. "As we've concluded from the data, this particular blastia is made to enhance the host's body itself by manipulating nervous impulses, apparently by highjacking the nervous system itself, and quite possibly part of the brain."

Eve started at this announcement, looked at the tools in her hand and the uncovered blastia before her, and rather violently lurched back in horror.

"N-no way! And I was messing with that?"

"Calm down Eve, I'm fine." Yuri said quietly, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "Just...don't do anything else."

"But I'm afraid she must." came Doctor Genzir's voice, calling everyone's attention to him. "If not her, than another will, and I doubt you would permit someone unfamiliar fiddling around it if you do not know or trust them. A control panel and casing must be made and attached to the device if you don't want outside stimuli interfering with it, it may prove very uncomfortable for you."

"Whatever."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at the blase response from his patient. "You may not care at the moment, but you will later on. It's time we begin the testing."

'_This is going to be such a pain'_ thought Yuri. _'Bigtime.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three.

It was more than a week and a half later that Yuri was finally allowed to leave the medical ward, after an exhausting battery of tests and the excruciatingly painful process of the blastia's acclimation to his body.

The doctors, technicians, and scientists had determined that most of the major nerves had been thickened, strengthened, and coated with a micro-thin layer of Aer-conductive metal. That explained a good deal of the initial pain, followed by acute growing pains that Yuri thought he'd never feel again after he turned eighteen. Eve had explained that his bones and muscles were basically revamping themselves with all the hormones flooding his system from the blastia's manipulation in his brain, not a very comforting thought in the least.

So, here he was being driven home by Eve, who had volunteered to look after him during his recovery. As much as he hated being babied, he really didn't have any options.

Pulling up to Yuri's apartment complex in her grey sedan and stealing the best possible parking space, Eve hopped out and took a glance at the neighborhood.

"Well, I'll admit it's got character." she mused. "You still haven't told me why the hell you stay here with a salary like yours."

"It's my hometown Eve, lived here my whole life. Saw no reason to leave." Yuri huffed tiredly. "Can we just get going already?"

"Ok ok, keep your shorts on." she quipped good naturedly, taking her luggage from the back before helping Yuri from the car. "Top floor right?"

Thanking whatever god was listening for elevators it didn't take long to get upstairs and into his apartment...

Of which thoroughly impressed the little blonde.

"Daaaammmnn Lowell! This is one _nice_ bachelor pad!"

She was right of course. It may not have been the high-rise penthouse he could have afforded, but it was certainly an impressive suite. Big enough to comfortably house a family of five and luckily on the corner of the building, it had character practically oozing from the walls. From the entrance was the living room, decorated in rich colors from the warm cream and burgundy walls, wheat-gold carpet and crimson furniture, all with tasteful bronze accents. Off to the left was the kitchen, with black tile and counters with steel blue paint and silver appliances, leading to the blue and green themed dining room. And last were the three bedrooms, one of which had to be the guest room in dark blues with white accent, but the other two remained closed from sight.

"Where to?"

"Right."

Eve opened the dark hued door to the master bedroom and flicked on the lights. It was almost fully dark violets and rich purples, with heavy drapes blocking the large windows, creating a calming, restful atmosphere. Smiling, she set the agent down on his large bed before turning to his dresser. "You want pj's or something?"

"Second drawer down, left side."

Opening the required drawer she found a set of black pajamas and tossed them to him. "There, you need me to do anything around the place?"

Yuri shrugged, but winced at the pain the motion caused him. "Nah, just go next door and ask for Ted." he broke off, yawning. "He'll tell ya what to do."

The techie smiled. "Right, you get some sleep and I'll look after things, ok?" she said, leaving without waiting for a response. "Ok, next door, ask for Ted..."

Ringing the doorbell of the next suit over, she was answered by a middle aged woman in an apron. "May I help you?"

"Yeah...I'm a friend of Yuri's, he told me to ask someone named Ted about looking after his apartment?"

The woman's face, once skeptical, brightened. "Really, a friend of Yuri's not from this neighborhood? I never thought I'd see the day...Ted! Get over here!"

Now, Eve was expecting 'Ted' to be the woman's husband, not the ten year old kid that barreled into his mother's legs at top speed.

"What is it Mom?" he asked, big brown eyes staring up at her from under his thick brown hair. "Is Yuri home?"

Eve did a double take at the cute face that she was presented with. "Uh, you Ted?"

"Yep! Yuri let's me look after stuff when he leaves, says he trusts me."

"Right..."

"So who're you?"

"Name's Eve."

"Cool, let's go!" Ted chirped. "Just let me get the dog and we can head over to Yuri's!"

"What dog?"

The boy just smiled and whistled. At once a massive wolf-like dog with an impossibly long tail rounded the corner. It was husky patterned, with a dark blue-violet back and white belly and feet, piercing blue eyes and one with a slash of white diagonally across it, standing out against the dark fur of the dog's forehead. It wore a thick, chain adorned collar and a harness of some kind, as well as rose colored booties on it's large feet.

If it weren't for those booties the dog would have made a very intimidating animal, but the pink footwear made the sight almost laughable.

Eve raised an eyebrow. "What's with the booties?"

Ted shrugged and pulled one off. "Mom won't let him in the apartment if he doesn't wear 'em, says he scratches up the wood floors."

Seeing the dog's longer than average claws, Eve had to agree. "Right, we going yet?"

The dog trotted past her, ignoring her completely in favor of getting into Yuri's apartment. The canine raised a paw and unlatched the door without missing a beat and went inside, his whippy tail vanishing through it.

Eve was stunned, but Ted seemed unfazed. "He does that all the time, Yuri taught him to do it when he first got him, it's no biggie. So where's Yuri?"

Not waiting for an answer he shot past her into the apartment, looking for the man. He found Yuri in his bedroom, already asleep, the dog curled up next to him.

But the heavy bandaging on the man's arm made him cry out.

"What the heck is this? What did you do to him?"

Eve tried to shut the kid up, but his screeching woke Yuri.

"...wha? Whaz all the noise?" he asked, eyes blurry and words slurred. "Whazzup?"

"What the heck happened to you Yuri?"

"Don' wanna talk 'bout it..." Yuri yawned, burying his face into his pillow and cuddling Redpede to him, clearly dismissing Ted's presence.

"He'll be fine! So take it easy kiddo, he's not gonna die." Eve hissed, taking the kid by the arm and leading him out of the room. "So just let him sleep, okay?"

"But!"

"No buts, seriously. Yuri really needs to rest right now so I need you to cooperate, are we clear?"

Ted scowled at her, but nodded. "Fine, but you're telling me what's going on!"

"Deal."

The two each took a seat in the kitchen, staring each other down in a battle of wills, daring each other to speak first.

Eve broke the silence. "Okay, what do you know about Yuri's job?"

"Not much." Ted admitted. "Just that he works nights mostly and that it's kinda dangerous."

"What do you think?"

"I think he's some kind of cop, you know, the undercover kind? Yuri said once that he sometimes has to fight bad guys, so he's got a lot of guns and stuff."

"Really? I didn't know he kept any here."

Ted brightened. "Yeah! He's got a bunch of really cool stuff in that locked room! Lots of guns and spy gear and knives and stuff! He showed me once, like how to know if a guy's carrying one and stuff like that!"

"Do you realize how often you use the word 'stuff'?"

Ted simply stuck his tongue out at her.

"Fine, be that way, but listen. Yuri has a very dangerous job, and you were pretty right with the undercover cop assumption, but the thing is that I'm not really allowed to tell you much."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it. Yuri got hurt really bad on his last assignment, so he'll have to go through a lot of rehab to get back on his feet, the doc said he's got some nerve paralysis."

The boy's eyes widened dramatically, his mouth falling slack. "You sure?"

Eve grimaced. She hated lying, especially kids, but she had to keep Yuri's cover. The dark haired agent's actual diagnosis was far more serious than even he was told, his prognosis was uncertain, possibly fatal. No one knew what total reconditioning of your spinal cord, bones, muscles, and nerves could really do to you, Yuri could very well die if he didn't adapt.

"Real sure, I was there. Boss has me under orders to look after him 'till he gets better."

"Boss?"

Inwardly, the tech flinched. "...yeah. We work together. I'm a technician."

"Oh! So you're like the person who gives spies their gadgets and tell 'em where to go right?"

"Kinda, but it's not that glamorous."

"Aww man."

Eve smiled at the kid's disappointed whine. He was a cute kid, pity she couldn't tell him any stories that she had about Yuri, he would have loved to hear them.

"So, what do you do here when Yuri's not around?" Eve asked.

Ted just beamed. "Yuri used to look after me when Mom was busy, he brings home books and stuff that he keeps in that cabinet in the living room with the TV, movies too. I still sleep over here sometimes, but only if he's home."

"Do you look after things? Like cleaning or feeding the dog?"

"Repede can feed himself, I make sure he's got food and wash his dishes every few days, he's picky about that."

"Feed himself?"

"Yeah! It's the coolest trick! He opens the cabinet and the container, gets a scoop and puts the food in his bowl and doesn't spill any! Then he puts everything away before he eats!"

"Right...I'll pretend to believe you. Seriously though, what other stuff does he have you do?"

"Yuri says that if he doesn't show up for a day or two that I need to check on Repede and make sure all the windows are locked, make sure he didn't leave anything out were it shouldn't be. He's got this habit of leaving his cooking knives out when he sharpens them."

"He cooks?"

"Yup, he's way better at meatloaf than my mom will ever be. Anyway, he keeps a list for my mom in the living room bookshelf in case I'm sick and can't come over, it's tied with red ribbons."

"Ok. I'll take a look. Go ahead and watch some TV or something, but keep it down."

Ted grinned and took off, happy to get to watch what he wanted without having to fight over it with his mom or older brother. Eve however, took a look at Yuri's list.

-xXx

Eve never expected that spending a mere three hours in Yuri's apartment would teach her more about him than the three _years _she had known him. Little tidbits and quirks were littered here and there, odd little nic-knacks scattered on shelves amongst a bizarre mixture of books gave hints to the man's eccentricities and tastes. His house-care booklet was especially interesting, his wry sense of humor sneaking it's way into the neatly handwritten guide.

Regardless, Eve got the basics.

_Don't use the cooking knives in the silver-edged case. _(Yuri's personal set).

_Repede's tail knocks over stuff, no open drinks on the coffee table._

_Always lock the windows and keep Repede's food hopper full._

_Storeroom is to remain locked at all times, keys are hidden in master bedroom._

_Cleaning supplies are kept in the hall closet._

_No parties! _(That was directed at Ted's mother).

Pretty simple, all common sense. Now with that taken care of and Ted having gone home, it was time to check on Yuri.

Padding softly down the hall, Eve poked her head into Yuri's room.

Unfortunately the change in light startled him awake, also waking the dog.

"What the? Eve?"

She flinched. "Sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up!" she hissed, shrinking back. The dog's unnaturally sharp blue eyes were more than a little unsettling in the half light.

"It's ok." Yuri yawned, stretching slightly. "I really need a shower anyway."

"Sorry, doc said no showers until you can up straight for longer than two minutes and aren't in any danger of cracking your skull open if you slip."

Yuri merely yawned again. "Eve, I just want to wash my hair, it feels gross."

"I'll help you, god knows I now how you feel. Long hair can be a bitch if you can't wash it regularly."

At that, Repede slunk off the bed, nosed open a basket and pulled out a large towel, a questioning look in his eyes accented by the tilt of his canine head.

"What was that?"

Yuri chuckled. "He's a damn smart dog Eve, best field partner and housemate I could ask for, knows what I need before I say anything direct about it."

"Can he read?"

"Yeah, little fuzzy on grammar and syntax and his vocabulary's a bit limited, but he's fluent enough to get by."

"Where'd you get him anyway?" Eve asked, helping Yuri stand up and walk. "There's no way that's normal."

"Found him on a mission as a puppy, he was small enough to hold in one hand. Pulled him and another pup form a research lab preforming genetic and blasita experiments. The other one died a few days later but the agency let me keep Repede." he told her, now leaning against the broad sink counter. "Had him about four years now."

Eve mock growled at him. "Longer than I've known you and still never met him, if you weren't in such bad shape I'd take that out of your skin man."

Yuri simply laughed.

Eve took a moment to look around the master bath, and another, longer moment to feel a bit jealous. The room was a girl's dream, but tempered with the same contemporary, masculine set to everything else in Yuri's apartment. Gold colored fixtures against warm, cream marble floor and countertops, black wall tiles and cabinets, a large shower stall and an even larger bathtub (and were those jacuzzi jets she saw?).

"That settles it Lowell, if you die I'm _**so**_ taking this apartment."

"Is that a threat?"

"Damn strait. Now how do you work this?"

"Run it hot for a minute than adjust it from there. No jets, might rip stitches."

"You got bubbles?"

"Breathe a word of this and you're dead, you got that?"

Eve giggled. "I'll that as a yes." She felt something nudge her leg, and looked down to see Repede sitting at her feet with a bottle in his mouth. "That what he likes boy? Hyacinth?"

"Oh shut up."

Eve only just giggled harder as she worked, filling the tub, gathering things with Repede's help, and fetching a chair from the bedroom. She left for a moment to let Yuri get changed in privacy, and returned to help him into the tub.

Admittedly it was a touch embarrassing dealing with her friend in such a state of undress, having never seen him in a swimsuit before. But like how she was with his fittings and suit-ups, she could at least be professional now and giggle like mad about it later.

With a small smile she watched him settle into the hot, sudsy water with a happy sigh, draping his bandaged left arm over the side to let her unwrap it.

"Well, this is certainly looking a lot better."

And she was right. Most of the angry red marks had faded, leaving behind only the faintest of hair-thin scars, ones you would probably never notice unless Yuri got a really deep tan. The rest of his body was also riddled with the lines, but they were most concentrated on his left arm. The only red left was on his wrist next to the blastia and the spidery lines lacing criss-cross down his spine.

Needless to say that these remaining marks were very sensitive and irritable, as Eve found out when she poked them.

"Shit Eve! Don't do that!" Yuri snapped after a near yowl of pain.

"Sorry!"

The little techie helped her friend wash his long hair, a task that he couldn't do alone, as he couldn't raise his arms above his head because of shooting pains in his back, before she left him awhile to soak in the hot water.

When she came back, he had already gotten out with Repede's help and half dressed into new pajama pants. She blow-dried his hair and brushed it out, then put him back in bed.

With her friend and his dog settled down for another long nap, Eve set about making some food.

"Well," she quipped to herself, "here's to hope the long road of recovery will have us still friends in the end."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Little more than a month passed before Yuri was well enough to return to active duty. For three weeks he remained on light duties, training and testing his new strength, along with the strange new powers the Bohdi Blastia gave him.

One of those powers was the ability to 'throw' bursts of tangible energy from his hands for a short distance. With a little experimenting, Yuri and Eve found it was fairly easy to channel this energy down a rune-scribed weapon with certain kinds of formulas for a range of effects.

This required an overhaul of his entire inventory of weapons. His firearms were easy enough to modify, given that bullets themselves did not take to Aer enhancement well, rather that the guns became easier to aim accurately at high speed. Knives were also simple, but they did not carry a 'charge' well either.

But his favored swords, works of art that he pursued as a hobby mostly, turned out to channel his power best. The edge of a blade carried and even amplified his energy, throwing it much harder, farther, and more deadly than he could with his bare hands. This was enough of an excuse for Yuri to favor his beloved swords, carrying one on him at all times.

This however, drove Eve to distraction.

"Are you nuts Yuri? People are starting to think you're some kind of nut job with you waving those things around!"

Yuri only smirked at her. "Why do you care? It looks cool and you know it."

"You were almost arrested yesterday."

"So?"

Eve pulled at her hair in frustration. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me, feed me, give me a home?" he asked, tilting his head to one side and waving hand like a dog, smiling sarcastically at her.

"Oh I give up."

Over the past few weeks Yuri had become more playful and teasing with her, and less severe with nearly everyone else. The doctors blamed it on the Blastia's revamping of his brain, that he had far more endorphins in his system than before on a regular basis, especially when exerting himself in any manner of combat.

As a result Yuri smiled a lot more, but it weirded out their fellow workers in the agency.

Not that it mattered, many of them were scared of him anyway.

-xXx

One afternoon Yuri and Eve sat in a breakroom, Eve reading something on her data pad and Yuri sharpening his favorite katana. The steady 'shik...shik' sound had all other's nerve on edge, but it soothed Yuri's.

To the relief of all the people in the room Yuri's attention to his blade was broken by a summons by the Commander.

"_**Agent Ashce, report to my office immediately."**_

"Will do."

Now, Cerius was normally an impenetrable facade, but the domineering woman had a very noticeable nervous tic when truly stressed.

And this was the sight that greeted Yuri and Eve as they entered her office, the commander's unnaturally sharp canines bared under her curled lip.

"Sit down." she barked.

Warily they did so, not wanting to incur her wrath.

"It's not you I'm mad at Ashce. Your new mission target is." Cerius growled. "I received word from our sister Agencies on Tolbyccia, Desier, and Hyponnia. I informed them of the situation of the false lead on the Hoplon Blastia, and they told me of the actual manufacture of these weapons near the new city Heliord, mostly by a black market guild called Leviathan's Claw, a member of the Union Five."

Yuri blinked. "You're kidding...those psychos?"

"Indeed, and it appears they also have a hand in Bhodi blastia. The other commanders and I have agreed that this problem need immediate action, and will each send out our best agents. The only information I have on these agents at the moment are their codenames, Agent Steppe, Agent Verneir, and Agent Crys."

"Real helpful chief."

"I'll ignore your sarcasm this time Ashce, but I won't again. Now your initial assignment is to infiltrate Zaphias Manor tonight and intercept an assassin, their target is the young lieutenant, a possible ally to the agency, named Scifo."

Yuri's hand spasmed, clenching his scabbard in a white-knuckled grip. Eve looked on in worry.

"You ok?"

"...dammit Flynn...what the hell have you gotten into this time?"

"So you know this man? A high clearance agent knows a Imperial Knight Lieutenant?"

"Childhood friend chief, serious hero complex and the delusion that he can fix the world by being a knight." Yuri bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood. "Never saw eye to eye with him on that. He says the law needs to be cleaned up from the inside, and I say that the law needs outside influence to rewrite it. We were both in the force for a short time, before I left and joined the Agency."

Cerius chuckled. "Well, all the more reason to rescue him, let him learn how the real world works. But along with that you need to keep an eye out for the Imperial Heiress."

Yuri raised an eyebrow in question. "You mean the Princess? Esta-something was it?"

"Yes. Princess Estelisse. We've uncovered information that she may have been used as a test subject for another model of the Hermes Formula type Bohdi Blastia, the kind that's bolted to your wrist." said Cerius. "The Imperial bloodline is known for producing natural healers, humans capable of manipulating Aer without the aid of blastia. If our intel is correct this time, it's possible that the blastia she may have been grafted with could channel massive quantities of Aer, maybe even conduct Mana as well."

Now both eyebrows were up, this time in shock. "You're joking, Mana? Isn't that stuff too dense for blastia to process?"

"True, blastia can't process Mana, but select individuals can. It's possible that you're one of these people, but we can't know for sure. Regardless, if you find Princess Estelisse in the mansion, take her into protective custody. Even if she has no blastia, she's still a possible tool to use to gain entry to the royal family."

Yuri's expression darkened. "Anyone that marries her is a near shoe-in for the next Emperor, and she could be forced into it."

"Precisely. Eve, equip him for the mission, and for spirit's sake get him a pocket blastia!"

-xXx

Yuri laughed silently as he slid past the manor security with ridiculous ease. For the house of the Imperial Empire's leaders and rulers, the security was laughable.

More so when Yuri spotted old childhood enemies of his, the lanky and diminutive goons, respectively called Adacor and Boccos, or as Yuri like to call them, Tweedles A and B.

Tweedle A was a clumsy, cowardly snob, who spoke with an awkward speech pattern that he thought sounded refined, using 'I say' a lot. Tweedle B was the antithesis of Tweedle A, who was all limbs and no balance. He was four foot six or seven inches (Yuri never bothered to make sure), and while he never spoke or moved awkwardly, he had this haughty tone of voice that just sounded ridiculous, especially when paired with his aggressive temper.

Currently the pair of Knave-Squire knights (one of the lowest ranks) were arguing off to the side of the door they were supposed to be guarding. Yuri waited until they turned their backs to each other in a huff, then dashed by, making sure to kick Adacor in the shin as he passed, which started a fight between the pair.

'_Too easy.'_ Yuri thought, smirking. _'Now this way?'_

A crash, the sound of breaking pottery and the distinctive sound of heeled shoes and clanking armor.

"_**Please, you have to let me go!" **_came the voice of a young woman.

"_**Now miss, we must escort you to your room. We will take all responsibility for this incident."**_ said a male voice, distorted slightly by a metal helmet, a knight.

"_**But you haven't done anything to help me!" **_the girl cried. _**"I beg you, let me go! I have to warn Flynn!"**_

That settled it. Yuri rounded the corner and fell on the pair of guards that had cornered the girl, knocking out each with a skilled kick to one and a chop to the second.

They fell bonelessly to the polished floor with the barest minimum of sound. The girl however, vanished...

Wait, not vanished, just hefting a large vase over her head, aiming for Yuri.

"Hold it missy." he said, grabbing the vase then restraining her hands. "You might hurt someone."

"Get away!" the girl shrilled, struggling. "I have to get to Flynn!"

The girl had to be a few years younger than him, sixteen at the most, with large green eyes, strawberry blond hair, and a willowy frame. She was wearing a noble-fashioned gown of light blue and white that only accentuated how tiny she was, too thin for Yuri to consider healthy.

Like a thunderbolt it hit him, this was the 'Lady' friend Flynn talked about everytime Yuri talked to him nowadays, he spoke of her like she was a princess...

And seeing her it was obvious this was the princess the commander told him to keep watch for.

"Easy, I'm a friend of Flynn's." he said calmly. "I'm Yuri."

Estelisse froze. "Yuri? Yuri Lowell?"

He smiled. "Yep. Flynn tell you any stories about me?"

She relaxed. "Yes, Flynn talks about you all the time. He said you were his best friend, how you grew up together."

"Sure did, can you show me to Flynn's room? I need to speak with him, now."

She smiled brightly. "Indeed, we must hurry, I have things to tell Flynn as well."

She led him down another hallway and a side hall, to what appeared to be the officer's wing of the mansion.

"This is it, I think."

Yuri didn't bother to knock, only taking a knife and sliding it back first down the doorjam, disengaging the simple lock.

"Humph, pitiful." he sniffed, stepping inside.

The room was dark, no sign of Flynn.

"What gives?"

The girl gasped. "Oh no! I forgot! Flynn was scheduled to start on the pilgrimage this week! He may have already left!"

Yuri bit back a curse. Well, at least he wasn't in the manor, where the assassins were looking for him. The Knight's Pilgrimage was a required duty of higher ranking officers lieutenant and above. The officer and his squad were made to travel across the globe in a patrol of sorts, carrying out their knightly duties.

The agent shook his head in defeat. Subtly he positioned himself in the center of the room, left hand twitching slightly.

"I wonder, if he's not here, do the others that want to talk with him know that?" Yuri said aloud.

"We do now!"

Estelisse shrieked and covered her head in fear of the falling glass from the shattered mirror as a reddish brown blur crashed through it, slamming into Yuri with the sound of metal on metal.

A second later the blur was thrown into the wall, and revealed itself to be a man. Of middle height, lanky, with pink hair and bleached bangs. His face, whitewash pale, had dark markings around his wide, feral eyes.

The man snickered, spitting out a glob of blood and licking his busted lip. "Very nice, never met a man that could survive my attack, let alone hit me!" he cackled. "I am Zagi, and I will be your death!"

Yuri scoffed, hefting his katana. The girl stared, open mouthed at the appearance of the blade.

"Sure you talk big, but can you back it up?"

The feral man only lunged, and Yuri met his double cleavers with his sword. Slash, slash, parry, block, parry, stab. The clashing of blades rang in a discordant din, until a crack rang out.

Zagi howled, dropping a weapon in favor of holding his broken nose.

"Damn you! That was a dirty trick!"

Yuri only smirked, his right hand still outstretched from where he had punched the assassin. "All's fair against contract killers Pinky."

The assassin only gurgled a growl, snatched up his fallen sword and fled out the broken window.

The princess, forgotten in the tussle, came forward. "H-how did you do that?" she asked timidly.

"Lots of practice." he quipped, taking out a cloth to wipe down the edge of his sword.

"No, not the fighting, how did you get that sword? I didn't see it earlier."

Yuri raised his left wrist, showing her a pair of black bands, one large and angular with a red stone, the other contoured to the first with multiple set stones.

"What's that?"

"A blastia, two actually. Smaller one's a Pocket Blastia, stores items up to certain sizes."

"How does it work?"

"No idea princess, but I have to go."

"Oh please take me with you! I have to speak to Flynn!"

Yuri studied her carefully, her nervous stance, timid hands, but resolute eyes. "You sure?"

"Absolutely! I need to get out of the castle!"

"Ok then..."

Without preamble, Yuri slung the startled girl over his shoulder and made off to what he knew was the noble's wing.

"Ack! Put me down!"

"I'm not going to sneak out of this place with you in your Cinderella getup." he said. "Let's get to your room and change you into something less conspicuous will you?"

The girl pounded on his back feebly, squirming in his grip. "Stop! You just passed it!"

He turned around, opened the door and dumped her on the large bed. "Alright, you have anything easy to move in Princess? Preferably dark colored?"

"My name is Estelisse." she huffed, her hair coming out of it's up-do.

"Nice to meet you, but can you hurry up? We need to hurry."

Estelisse floundered a bit in her heavy skirt, but made it to her large closet before Yuri could rifle through it. She closed the door on him, almost slamming it in his face.

Yuri laughed. Teenage girls were all the same. Threaten to go through their clothes and they spring into action.

-xXx

Five minutes were an agonizingly long wait, but at last the door opened again. Estelisse gave a little twirl to show him her outfit.

"What do you think?"

Yuri was not all that impressed. While fairly practical, it was still a dress. A shin-length, split riding dress in a rich green, it undoubtably was the darkest piece of clothing she had.

"Don't think it really suits you, but it'll have to do."

Without another word he led her down to ground level, to a hidden passage he knew led through the underground.

It took nearly two hours to fight their way through the tunnels. The disused passage was filled with monsters, from mutated rats to walking shadows and slime creatures. Estelisse turned out to have some knowledge of swordwork, and was a fair bit of help against the waves of beasts with a weapon leant from Yuri, but she had little stamina. By the time they reached the exit she was exhausted, and Yuri ended up carrying her to his car when she fell asleep when she sat down for a moment to catch her breath.

It was sort of funny really, Yuri couldn't help but feel like protecting her, a baby sister he never had.

He made it back to his apartment at two thirty in the morning, and was greeted by a sleepy Eve.

"What the hell took you?" she asked, yawning from her place on the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy robe patterned with z's.

"Got sidetracked a bit, you fall asleep?"

"What do you think?"

He smiled. "Yeah, stupid question."

Eve then noticed the sleeping form in Yuri's arms. "This your distraction?"

"Yeah, can you get her cleaned up? Don't think she'll like waking up in a mud covered dress."

"Sure."

Eve got Estelisse out of the heavy outfit and into some of her pajamas, giving Yuri the dress to rinse off and get the worst of the mess out before it set in. With that done Yuri made his report to the commander and wearily climbed into bed, Repede curled against his back..


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Yuri woke up in his usual fashion, immediately coming to awareness without delay. Stretching, he checked the clock, nine forty-nine. Well past time to get up anyway.

He grabbed his robe and made his way to the kitchen to get a start on breakfast, when he remembered his newest houseguest.

'Might as well get her and Eve up.' He thought.

He opened the door and stuck his head in, only to get a pillow hard to the face.

"G-go away! Who are you?"

Estelisse was panicked, eyes hazy from sleep where she sat huddled against the headboard. Yuri chuckled at her frazzled appearance and messy hair.

"Morning there sleeping beauty." he said teasingly. "You've got pretty good aim for being half asleep."

She blinked, clearing her vision and taking closer note of her surroundings. "Yuri? Where is this?"

"My apartment. And before you ask, my friend Eve was the one that changed your clothes, not me."

She looked down at herself and noticed the cutely patterned pj's she was wearing. "Oh, well I'm glad." she said. "Where is this friend?"

"Sacked out on the floor here." Yuri chuckled, nudging said girl with a slippered foot. "I swear she can sleep anywhere, hard."

He laughed again and pulled her sleeping bag out from under her, rolling her onto the carpet to a chorus of cursing.

"What the bleeping hell was that for?" Eve snarled, her hair obscuring her face.

"Time to get up, we slept in." Yuri said calmly. "Get dressed and see if you can find something for our little princess to wear would you? I'll get breakfast started."

He left the room and shut the door in time to block another thrown pillow, followed by muffled swearing, and smiled. Eve was _not _a morning person.

Fifteen minutes later the two women came out of the bedroom, Estelisse dressed in a pair of Eve's sweat pants and a t-shirt, both fitting quite loosely on her. Yuri shook his head sadly, Eve was only just barely as tall as the younger girl, but at least he was a healthy weight for her height.

Well, if she was going to be under his watch he was definitely going to make sure she ate properly.

"Hey there, you like omelets?" he asked, getting out the eggs.

Estelisse nodded, giving him a shy smile. "I love them, especially with bacon, but my etiquette instructor always said that such things are too 'common' for nobility, to much fat."

Yuri scoffed. "Let me guess, stuffy old bat with the sharp nose and her hair pulled way too tight?"

"You mean...Madame Ursula?"

"Yep, met her a couple times when I was in Knight's training. I was supposed to end up being some noble's bodyguard before I wound up quitting."

Eve snorted into her coffee from behind the newspaper. "You, a noble's bodyguard?"

Yuri only looked smug. "That meant I was good Eve, way better than an common soldier." he said flippantly. "Anyway, the Agency snapped me up before I got in too deep with the Knights. How do you like your omelet?"

Estelisse blinked at the sudden change in topic, but dismissed it for the moment. "I like them with just about everything sir."

"Sure thing, but don't call me sir. I'm not a Knight."

Yuri set to work and cracked the eggs into the skillet with a bit of bacon grease, scrambling them as he went and tossing some of each ingredient he had prepared while the girls were getting dressed. Estelisse watched him intently, fascinated.

"If you'll forgive my saying this, I didn't imagine you as a chef."

Eve laughed. "I wouldn't peg him for a lot of things, but I've known him for three years and he still keeps surprising me."

"Really? How did you meet?"

"We work together, somebody had to keep an eye on him while he was out in the field."

"Field?"

"I'm an active field agent, specializing in combat and high-profile infiltration." said Yuri, flipping the finished omelet onto a plate with a few strips of bacon then placing it in front of the girl. "If you've ever seen super-spy or thief movies, it's kind've like that only in the real world."

"You're a spy!" Estelisse cried, shrinking back. "Then you kidnaped me?"

Both Eve and Yuri laughed. "Relax, our agency is trying to _protect_ you Princess."

"Why?"

"Think about it, you're the heir to the throne, but the Empire is traditionally ruled by men." stated Eve, poring herself another cup of coffee. "You're a prime target for anyone with plans on controlling the world's biggest nation, and the easiest."

"Exactly. I was under orders to retrieve you from the mansion if I saw you while I as looking for Flynn. He's got a mark on his head too, but by our enemies."

The princess relaxed slightly. "Oh, but is it alright for you to be telling me this?"

Yuri shrugged. "The commander can tell you more tonight when we take you to meet her. She trusts me with sensitive information. So eat up, we've got a pretty long day ahead of us."

Of course, what Yuri saw as a 'long day' was entirely different from a woman's point of view. He hated shopping for clothes, even more so when in female company, but Estelisse needed street clothes that fitted her properly.

So, he had to grit his teeth and bear it, especially since the princess had never been shopping before.

The slight girl fluttered about the colorful displays like an inquisitive butterfly, but had absolutely no idea where to begin. Yuri had to bite back a long suffering sigh at every innocent question she asked him about the various articles of clothing, having never seen any casual clothing before.

Eve finally took pity on the agent and pulled Estelisse along to the appropriate side of the store to get her started and sent Yuri off to do his own thing.

They spent over an hour in the lingerie department alone. The overly sheltered girl didn't even know what a bra was, having only worn corsets under her gowns and absolutely no contact with the outside world. Next it was off to clothes, where they gathered enough outfits for the princess to get by comfortably with a bit of growing room.

They met with Yuri again in a music store a few shops down. He was contentedly browsing through a selection of various heavy metal artists that he liked when the girls caught up with him.

Looking up, he studied Estellise's new clothes before nodding in satisfaction. "Much better." he said. "Now you look like a normal teen."

The princess tilted her head to one side cutely. "Oh? Is that a good thing?"

"In this case, yes."

Estelisse was wearing a two toned pink tunic shirt over brown leggings with white walking boots and a gold-edged white jacket. Several shopping bags sat at her's and Eve's feet.

"So what's the damage?" he asked.

Eve merely handed him a small collection of receipts and his credit card back. Scanning them and calculating their total he gave them a small smile. "Under fifteen hundred, nice bargain hunting."

"Nice, isn't it?" laughed Eve. "Anyway, I got a call from my aunt, she want's us to come in, ASAP."

"Ok, we'll drop this stuff off at the apartment and head down, shouldn't take long."

As per Yuri's prediction, they were in headquarters in under an hour, seated in Cerius' office.

Estelisse was thoroughly intimidated by the stern woman, and fidgeted through the entire meeting, not that Yuri or Eve could blame her.

"Well then Agent Ashce, do you understand your orders?" Cerius asked.

"Crystal clear Ma'am." Yuri quipped. "Get out of the capital and track down Lieutenant Scifo, meet up with the other agents, dig up what dirt I can on the mercenary guild Blood Alliance and the black market guild Leviathan's Claw, get in contact with the other Agency leaders and the Don if I head that way, and keep the princess out of enemy hands. Is that it?"

Cerius nodded. "Good. You are to be equipped for a long range mission with your partner Repede. If you need assistance or restocking of supplies any Agency outpost will oblige you. Keep on the lookout for your fellow high agents, and don't, under any circumstance, allow sensitive information or yourself to fall to enemy hands. You are far too valuable to both us and them with that blastia." she said sternly. "You are to set out as soon as possible, you are dismissed."

At the command they left the office and headed towards the labs, Eve muttering to herself as she scribbled on her data pad.

Estelisse looked nervously about her when they entered the armory, but Eve looked right at home. "Ok, gonna have to requisition some semi-autos, lots of ammo, maybe that jeep with the hidden mounted gun, EMP device? wait, no, don't need that."

Another tech emerged from the isles of weaponry. "You can't take normal vehicle outside barrier limits or the established roads you know." she said. "Monsters attack anything that goes offroad that isn't armored to the nines."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah Eve, a vehicle will just be a hindrance once we get to Deidon Hold. Ten to one chances say that monsters are attacking early this year."

"You are right agent Ashce. Lately the Aer conditions have been unstable, so monsters are getting more aggressive than normal." said the tech. "If you're heading north to Halure you'll be fighting a hell of a lot, and bullets aren't working anymore."

Estelisse looked stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Just like I said. We've been getting reports that monsters are becoming more resistant to conventional weapons. Seems only so called 'archaic' weapons are effective anymore, Aer inscription and embedded skill sets with bohdi blastia are the only things keeping people alive out there."

The princess gulped. "And we're going out there?"

"No choice. I have a mission to protect you and hunt down Flynn. At any rate you'll be a lot safer with me out there than anywhere in a barrier protected city."

"I don't like this." she said demurely. "I don't like fighting or killing."

All three of the agency members smiled. "Aw, that just means you're a decent person. You don't have to like it, but you need to admit that you have to if you're going to survive. There is no such thing as a conflict-free resolution, human nature does not allow it."

"Yeah, like Eve said, humans are violent creatures." said Yuri. "Even dainty princesses aren't excluded from this rule."

"But..."

"No buts. This is a war we're fighting, it's just not visible to everyone. Out in the real world you're as experienced as a kitten, so you'll need to stick to me as much as possible, I'll look after you."


End file.
